According to a review by American Ledger, a recent Trump campaign ad touts the return of 73,000 manufacturing jobs during Trump’s time in office but references a USA Today article that cites data from 2010-2018, an 8 year period that consists of 6 years of the Obama-Biden administration and only 2 years of Trump. Several of the companies mentioned in the article have actually closed manufacturing plants during President Trump’s time in office and are outsourcing jobs as a direct result of Trump’s trade and economic policies.

The first paragraph of the USA Today article mentions that the iconic American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson plans to shift manufacturing overseas to avoid retaliatory tariffs directly in response to Trump’s tariffs. Trump publicly supported a boycott of Harley-Davidson after they moved their manufacturing overseas. Overall, the article mentions 16 companies that brought jobs back to America from 2010-2018, though several factories mentioned in the article returned to the U.S. during the Obama-Biden administration.

Since the article was published in 2018, multiple companies credited for bringing jobs back to the U.S. have made plans or already outsourced jobs in 2018, 2019, or 2020, all years that President Trump has been in office.

President Trump’s time in office has seen a marked increase in outsourcing by iconic American companies as a direct consequence of his trade war and mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump is up for reelection in November.


Contact Chai Karve at ckarve@americanbridge.org